UCLA Football Embarrassed By Baylor In Holiday Bowl

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UCLA football took a major step back with their third loss in a row and fifth loss in 2012 when the Baylor Bears came to Southern California and whipped UCLA 49-26 in the Holiday Bowl on Thursdays.

The manner in which they lost was pitiful. While UCLA’s losses to Stanford were both excusable — albeit frustrating and, in the case of the last game, heart-breaking — UCLA’s loss to Baylor was confusing and has left a seed of doubt as to whether this Bruin team had taken a legitimate step forward under Jim Mora.

UCLA was outcoached at every turn; the offensive playcalling was disastrous and the Baylor offense had no issues driving the ball methodically downfield nor did they have much problems getting big runs from RB Lache Seastrunk. At the end of the first quarter, the Bruins were shut-out by a score of 14-0 and that hole exploded into a second-quarter 35-7 deficit.

Just one month after nearly getting to the Rose Bowl game, UCLA barely looked bowl-worthy on Thursday in San Diego and was lit up in front of a crowd of 55,000 strong, most of them UCLA fans wanting to get a final look at a team that was otherwise considered largely successful.

Hats off to Baylor, though. Despite laying claim to one of the worst defenses in the country, the Bears absolutely suffocated UCLA’s potent offense to the point where they negated the impact that Brett Hundley and Johnathan Franklin normally would have.

We’ll break down this loss later on, but for now, let’s try to wash this shit-storm off.